Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – 79%
Existing with this comic book craze and yet always outside it are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Though originating as comic book characters, as a sort of parody on manga and Daredevil’s origin and superheroes as a whole, they’ve always felt somewhat independent of superheroes despite being exactly that. Maybe it’s because they don’t exist in a shared continuity with other characters. Or because they’ve had their own media that defines them outside of the trends of other masked characters. Regardless, the Turtles have been a cultural force for decades now, with multiple popular animated series and several notable film adaptations. Different generations have different connections with the turtles and the versions of the characters in each iteration.
With 2023 comes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and perhaps the next generation’s version of the four ninja reptiles. Mutant Mayhem bears the influences of its time. The four Turtles very much feel like Gen Z teenagers, replete with pop culture references and a social-media-influenced outlook on life. The animation style and score certainly feel like they take influence from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with a visual style that combines CG animation with a hand-drawn aesthetic to recreate the look and feel of a comic book. Mutant Mayhem differs somewhat in taking on more of a sketchbook look, but regardless of where the influences come from, the animation is a strong point. The backgrounds are colorful and stylized and the characters are expressive and unique. Somewhat disproportionate-looking humans populate this world and help it stand out even from its Spider-Verse influences. The turtles also have a lanky quality to them, looking very much like teenagers. While it’s a tad silly that Donatello, the traditionally geeky turtle, wears glasses given that mutant turtles shouldn’t need corrective lenses, these small little additions to the turtles’ designs do add character.
Likewise, the score has heavy synthized sounds on it, with some points sounding very much like the Prowler theme from Spider-Verse. They pulled in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to do the score, who also impart their style into the music. This style adds to the mood and aesthetic of the film, and lots of classic hip-hop gives it a bit of a throwback vibe.
While heavy and obvious influences can fairly lead to accusations of being derivative in some ways, Mutant Mayhem still largely works. This version is perhaps the strongest one in terms of emphasizing the adolescent nature of its lead characters. They look, sound, and feel like kids, unlike prior adaptations. Their desires are an understandable teenage one to have social interactions outside of hiding in the sewers; they want to attend high school and have a normal life. While their goofy quirkiness can feel forced in a few scenes, this youthful characterization is mostly a strong point for the film.
The movie has a simplistic plot. In fact, one might be surprised by how little actually happens in the movie and how quickly it moves along. This leads to some shallowness in the storytelling and the themes it tries to convey about acceptance, with clunky, shorthand dialogue used to move the character arcs, thematic ideas, and plot. Yet this movie cannot be accused, as many recent superhero movies have been, of convolutedness. The plot is easy to follow, and there’s not a ton of dumb, potentially-contradictory elements introduced along the way.
Mutant Mayhem also has a somewhat unconventional villain. Superfly, voiced by Ice Cube, has what seems like a Saturday morning cartoon plan to just take over the world. Yet the film takes time to give him understandable motivations, even if they are more than a tad extreme. His mutant minions are also fleshed out and given some personality and agency, which makes for some fun third-act turns as well. Every character in the film feels like an actual character rather than a plot device, though some of the changes from the traditional backstory for Splinter and the Turtles ironically ends up taking away what could be some interesting thematic content. Splinter has no Master Yoshi in this iteration, and instead has a general fear of humans and their bigotry. The nuance of Splinter knowing one kind human might have added to the themes a bit, but a funny sequence of Splinter as a pre-mutated rat is quite amusing, and Jackie Chan is hilarious in this role.
Mutant Mayhem is not a modern masterpiece in the way the two recent Spider-Verse films are. Its writing is too simplistic for that. But it perhaps can claim the title of the best TMNT film. It’s visually interesting, has great characters, and is a fun, crowd-pleasing movie. In a world of many poorly-written movies targeted at children, this one is a highlight from the past few years. With news of a sequel and spin-off TV series coming, we hope it brings some of the same creatives are onboard. Welcome to next generation, Turtles!
